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Understanding Evolution

Understanding Evolution

Your one-stop source for information on evolution

Understanding Evolution

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    • An introduction to evolution: what is evolution and how does it work?
      • 1_historyoflife_menu_iconThe history of life: looking at the patterns – Change over time and shared ancestors
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Home → Speciation in plants
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Speciation in plants

In terms of reproduction, plants have a lot more options than animals do. Many plants can reproduce sexually, by fertilizing other individuals or themselves, and asexually, by creating clones of themselves through vegetative reproduction, while most animals only reproduce sexually.

Similarly, in terms of speciation, plants have more options than animals do. Two modes of speciation are particularly common in plants:

  • Speciation by hybridization: For example, when Loren Rieseberg and coworkers reconstructed the phylogeny of several sunflower species, they found that several species had been formed by fertilizations between other species. Often the hybrid offspring of such fertilizations are sterile, but occasionally they are fertile and are reproductively isolated from their “parent” species. In the latter case, a new species is formed.
Triptych of three sunflower species in different outdoor environments: H. annuus on the left, H. petiolarus in the center and H. anomalus on the right.
The sunflower species Helianthus anomalus was produced by the hybridization of two other sunflower species. Sunflower photos courtesy of Jason Rick and Loren Rieseberg.
  • Speciation by ploidy changes: In terms of plant speciation, a ploidy change generally means multiplying the number of chromosomes the species has by some number. So a species that normally has 18 chromosomes might produce a lineage that has 36 or 54 chromosomes. Ploidy changes are common in plants and often produce a species that is reproductively isolated and distinct from the “parent” species. For example, speciation in these anemones involved a ploidy change.
Two species of anemone flower and their chromosomes.
Here we see two species of anemone flower and their chromosomes. Changes in number of chromosomes, as has occurred in this genus, can cause speciation. Anemone rivularis photo courtesy of Farmyard Nurseries; Anemone quinquefolia courtesy of Thomas G. Barnes @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Barnes, T.G. & S.W. Francis. 2004. Wildflowers and ferns of Kentucky. University Press of Kentucky.
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Learn more about speciation:

  • A closer look at a classic ring species: The work of Tom Devitt, a research profile.
  • Sex, speciation, and fishy physics, a news brief with discussion questions.

Teach your students about speciation:

  • Anolis lizards, a classroom activity for grades 9-12.

Find additional lessons, activities, videos, and articles that focus on speciation.

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